Technology will make NZ rivers cleaner

Technology will soon help make New
Zealand’s farms more productive while also making lakes
and rivers cleaner, NZTech chief executive Graeme Muller
says.

As a nation Kiwis keep talking about how
important clean rivers and lakes are and the damage being
done by the primary industries. Muller says.

“Yet we
need these industries as they drive our economy, create jobs
and put food on our tables. What we don’t talk about
enough is that our New Zealand primary industries and our
growing tech sector are working extremely well together.

“It is technology that will help make our farms more
productive while also making our rivers cleaner.

The rest
of the world can see this, that is why so many high profile
international agritech investors are coming to Tauranga next
week, to connect with our best agritech firms.”

US
agritech investors, New Zealand industry leaders and food
innovation experts will explore new ways of feeding the
world in the Techweek event, 10 Billion Mouths, at Tauranga
on May 23.

New Zealand has a deep agricultural
history, with the industry contributing around half of New
Zealand’s exported goods. Technology is New Zealand’s
third biggest and fastest growing sector.

Now New Zealand
is faced with the exciting challenge of meeting the needs of
the world’s growing and hungry population.

The key
address at the Tauranga event is from leading agritech
venture capitalist Arama Kukutai of San Diego-based
Finistere Ventures. He will talk about how New Zealand is
responding to the challenge of a predicted global population
of 10 billion by 2050.

Another talk, by Sanjeev
Krishnan of Chicago’s Seed 2 Growth Ventures, will focus
on what dinner will look like in 2050.

Techweek in
Tauranga has attracted the largest ever inbound delegation
of global agritech investors and thought-leaders into New
Zealand.

One of the highlights will be the launch of
Agritech New Zealand, as part of the community within the
NZTech alliance framework. Tauranga businessman Peter
Wren-Hilton will become the inaugural executive director of
Agritech NZ.

Muller says the country’s collaborative
agricultural ecosystem is shifting its efforts to developing
sustainable ways to feed the world.

“Will the future
of food production rely on robots and data, or a global
consumer shift toward alternative proteins? These are just
some of the agritech issues that are so important for New
Zealand’s economy that will be discussed in Tauranga next
week.”

Techweek, which is being run by NZTech, is a
major nationwide festival of more than 500 tech and
innovation events held in many towns and cities around the
country.

Muller says exploding populations,
sustainability and increasingly unpredictable climates are
some of the problems agriculture is facing globally which
require urgent answers.

“Alternatives to traditional
food sources and farming methods are revolutionising the way
we think about feeding the world,” he says.

“New
Zealand’s reputation as a producer of high-quality meat
and dairy products affords us opportunities as the world’s
boutique farmer, which New Zealand agritech companies are
leveraging in all sorts of imaginative and inspiring
ways.

“New Zealand’s agritech sector which adds
billions of dollars annually to the gross domestic product
will be showcased on May 23 as part of the massive national
Techweek festival this
year.”

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